Political debates are never polite affairs — that’s why they’re called “debates” and not “friendly conversations” — but say that you’re gonna cut funding for Big Bird and the whole internet gets in the fray.

During last night’s presidential debate between President Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney, the Mittster said he would tighten Washington’s belt by making cuts to federal programs, including subsidies to PBS, which airs Big Bird’s show Sesame Street.

“I’m sorry Jim, I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS,” Romney said during Wednesday night’s televised debate, addressing Jim Lehrer, the host of PBS’s NewsHour. “I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”

Almost immediately the internet meme machine swung into action – seizing on the moment by making I Can Haz Cheezburger-style Big Bird images and GIFs. Twitter denizens got in on the action as well with non-verified and parody accounts for @BIGBIRD and @FiredBigBird joining the fracas much the way the @InvisibleObama account popped up after Clint Eastwood addressed an empty chair as if it were the president during the Republican National Convention. And, of course, Next Media Animation also weighed in with a typically bonkers animation of the Colorado debate that showed the GOP candidate taking a chainsaw to the beloved children’s icon.

On Thursday, PBS issued a statement about Romney’s remarks, saying that the publicly funded network was “very disappointed” to have been drawn into the presidential debate, defending the Sesame Street character, and noting that the federal outlay for public broadcasting was “one one-hundredth of one percent” of the nation’s budget.

“For more than 40 years, Big Bird has embodied the public broadcasting mission – harnessing the power of media for the good of every citizen, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay,” the statement read. “Our system serves as a universally accessible resource for education, history, science, arts and civil discourse.”

The internet, naturally, was not nearly as polite, making images of Big Bird giving Romney the bird and even planning a Million Muppet March on Washington D.C.’s National Mall on Nov. 3. Here are some of the best Big Bird vs. Romney memes.